Homework: Getting Started
Are you new to creative nonfiction writing? Welcome! Here are a few things it may be helpful to keep in mind.
Can you find a quiet hour this week, turn off the news & social streams, put your mobile out of reach, and give yourself time to write? Allowing the mind to focus, creating something new and good in the world. These things can be a solace.
If you can’t - it doesn’t matter. Scribble it on the back of a napkin. Thumb it into your phone. Get it down in scraps and half sentences. The only thing you need to do is put one word after another. Then do it again.
You can write as much as you like. 500 words might be a useful mark to aim for. If it’s flowing, though, why stop? Or maybe a couple of sentences is all you really need.
If you’re stuck, set a timer for ten minutes and write without stopping in response to the prompt. Put down whatever nonsense comes into your head. At the end, look back over what you’ve written. In the midst of this free flow, is there a sentence, a word, that stands out? Surprises you? That’s a start.
You only have to write it. You don’t have to worry about whether it’s any good or not.
Try not to edit too much as you go. There will be a time for that - for now, just get the words on the page.
Creative nonfiction writers work with true stories. That doesn’t mean you can’t be inventive. Let your imagination take you where it wants to go. You can worry about reining in your ‘poetic licence’ later.
Oh yes. Have fun.
Amber x